Sunday, January 22, 2006

Terrorism

So I read an interesting article the other day regarding bin Laden's latest public announcement. This particular article put a spin on the matter that one is not exposed to very frequently, though I have noticed more and more reports seem to favor a similar approach when discussing this particular message. The spin I am referring to takes a look more at potential political motivations or intentions behind the tone, word choice, etc., employed than at how terrorized we should all feel right now and/or when the next building is expected to fall.

Most interesting to me is of course the stark contrast between his words and the words chosen by our US representation. He offers a truce, and McClellan replies in low-brow American bravado "we don't negotiate with terrorists, we put them out of business".

It is clear to me (and I believe it should be clear to everyone at this point) that no side will win this so-called war on terror. No side possibly can win. Both have undeniably already lost. It is obvious that when you're at the point where people are dying, something horrible went wrong somewhere. I read the other day over at Jeffrey Ullman's rant on fundamentalism why he believes the military actions employed by the US (invasion, remote missile attacks, etc.) are in fact distinct from terrorism. If I read correctly, it essentially amounts to the fact that the US relies on more conventional actions, and such more 'classical' forms of warfare are supposed to have additional benefits (posturing, etc.) that so-called terrorism lacks. But it's clear, even to Bush who has repeatedly pointed out the unique nature of the enemy in this particular war, that things are different now; traditional methods cannot be expected to work as if used against a traditional opponent. Conventional military actions cannot be assumed to work conventionally against an unconventional adversary.

It might be time for the administration to reconsider its policies and their affects, maybe take a crack at adapting.

Llama herding

Mad props to the Aymara Indians. Represent.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

bloop

So here it is. My first blog entry. It pretty much pwns.